Photo: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Mercedes had quite a turn-around in Spain this past weekend, with George Russell finishing third and Hamilton crossing the line fifth, despite being forced into an early pit stop following a collision with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Hamilton was actually in line to finish fourth but was instructed via team radio to lift and coast towards the end, because of a reported water leak, as per Motorsport.
The seven-time F1 world champion initially thought his team might be better served in saving the engine on his car, only to be told that if he kept going, he might still finish as high as eighth. Little did he know, at that point, just how competitive his car was, admitting that race pace was “much better” than expected and the car felt “much nicer” during long stints.
“This is a great sign that we’re going in the right direction,” said the Mercedes driver. “I have no doubt at some stage [we can fight for wins again] because today, if I hadn’t had that [collision with Magnussen], I’d have been fighting with the Red Bulls. So that gives me great hope that at some stage we’ll be fighting for the win.”
Hamilton added that his team had experimented with an unnamed upgrade on Russell’s car, which “ultimately ended up being the better way to go in qualifying.”
He went on to say that charging through the field to finish P5 felt better than a win, seen as how he had to claw his way back from so far down the field.
Hamilton is currently sixth in the 2022 Driver Standings with 46 points, trailing fifth-place Carlos Sainz by 19 points. Meanwhile, his teammate, George Russell, is fourth with 74 points, just 11 points behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Furthermore, this past weekend has clearly shown that Mercedes yet again deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Red Bull and Ferrari with regards to overall performance. Sure, they might not be quite there yet, but they’ve separated themselves from the rest of the grid completely.
The seven-time F1 world champion initially thought his team might be better served in saving the engine on his car, only to be told that if he kept going, he might still finish as high as eighth. Little did he know, at that point, just how competitive his car was, admitting that race pace was “much better” than expected and the car felt “much nicer” during long stints.
“This is a great sign that we’re going in the right direction,” said the Mercedes driver. “I have no doubt at some stage [we can fight for wins again] because today, if I hadn’t had that [collision with Magnussen], I’d have been fighting with the Red Bulls. So that gives me great hope that at some stage we’ll be fighting for the win.”
Hamilton added that his team had experimented with an unnamed upgrade on Russell’s car, which “ultimately ended up being the better way to go in qualifying.”
He went on to say that charging through the field to finish P5 felt better than a win, seen as how he had to claw his way back from so far down the field.
Hamilton is currently sixth in the 2022 Driver Standings with 46 points, trailing fifth-place Carlos Sainz by 19 points. Meanwhile, his teammate, George Russell, is fourth with 74 points, just 11 points behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Furthermore, this past weekend has clearly shown that Mercedes yet again deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Red Bull and Ferrari with regards to overall performance. Sure, they might not be quite there yet, but they’ve separated themselves from the rest of the grid completely.
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